Chrishaune
Veteran
Still in the gold medal game. That's really all you want. Getting a silver this time isn't the end of the world. Expecting them to win though, but still.
2021 USA Basketball @ Tokyo Olympics
- Thread starter FAH1223
- Start date
Still in the gold medal game. That's really all you want. Getting a silver this time isn't the end of the world. Expecting them to win though, but still.
Imagine forcing a switch on Gobert just to pass away the game winning shot
Kobe or KD would never
I don't know why Slovenia kept doing that through the game though because it didn't work that well for them. They shoulda tried to get a smaller defender like De Colo or even Fournier on him more often. I mean getting Gobert away from the basket is a good thing but I feel like they only were doing that.
Yeah, but if he was there this would be considered an A team. Public perception would be dramatically different.
threattonature
Veteran
This is what's killing me. It was a neck and neck game for the majority of the game and came down to the very last shot of the game. It's crazy to feel the need to run in and start blaming people for losses considering if that last layup wasn't blocked none of this talk would be occurring. Just tip the hat for a well played game and give both teams credit. These need to get the hot takes off and shyt on somebody after ever game is just nuts to me. Especially one as close as this.
Why are you speaking like I haven't been one of Luka's most vocal supporters on this board? Why are you speaking like we already haven't had this conversation during the season about him dominating the ball and it not leading to positive long-term results?
You know all this, which begs the question, why are you acting brand new rn?
You need to stop letting box score stats shape the narrative for you. Of course, he's going to have high production games having the ball in his hands all the time, why do you seem to think that isn't going to be a natural result of someone of his ability? The problem is, that's not going to work in the long run. We've seen the hurdles that he and his teams fall at, and it's due to the offenses being centered around his role on the team.
Luka controlled the ball for 9 minutes per game this season, which was #1 in the league, even more than players who're the primary ball-handlers of their team and play more minutes. This is the issue here where the Mavs are too reliant on him playing this centralized role, and everyone else plays these minor keys to the tune of their offense; it's easier for defenses to work that sound out and muffle it. If someone is handling the ball that much how can the other players contribute more and get better at different skills and situations when they're only given the ball when it's time to shoot or finish at the rim whenever Luka is on the floor? If Luka is doing all this constantly every time he's on the floor, how can he possibly balance out his energy?
You don't think that if his support cast were allowed to build themselves up more during the regular season with more reps and in different spots that they'd in turn contribute more in the playoffs? We're not talking about giving more responsibility to G-League talent here. We're talking about Porzingis, JRich and Hardaway Jr., there's absolutely no reason why he should be controlling the ball the way he did with that amount of talent.
Porzingis' best season was back in 2018, and that was the season where he was allowed to play to his strengths. He's been reduced to being primarily a spot-up/C&S shooter in this Mavs offense. He had a 30% drop in post-ups from the 2018 season compared to last season, and that was on a team where Jarrett Jack was the initiator of the offense.
Luka played the exact same way in the playoffs as he did in the regular season. There's only a .5 difference in his time of possession per minute from the regular season to the playoff.
Nobody is out here trying to state his support cast played perfectly, but here's what I'm keep reiterating to you, and I told you during the season, in order for players to play their best ball, they need to have confidence, and they need to feel like they are an important piece of the puzzle. The only way you can maximize the chances of that happening is making sure they're prepared to handle those situations as best as they possibly can. You can't do that if you have one player controlling everything on offense. It's all about building them up during the regular season in all different situations and scenarios, and not just used as standing in the corner or fading above the arc to shoot; but passing, running actions for other players, creating offense for themselves, and all things that come with being part of the offense.
That's the process they need to go through in order to get better and step up when the time comes.
You're looking at this in black and white, instead of seeing the bigger picture. It's not that Luka is to blame, himself, it's the role he has is the main contribution as to why they're losing. It's all about putting the team in the best possible position of winning, and the way the offense is, doesn't do that.
This is the exact reason why you shouldn't speak on shyt you have no clue about.
Slovenia only gained independence in the 90s to compete at the Olympics, prior to that they represented Yugoslavia, and you have to remember they're only a population of two million; per capita they have one of the highest basketball RD's in the world, and it's growing rapidly. They've been one of the most successful Euro nations in recent times, particularly with their age-group teams.
You mean Goran Dragic, the same player that led Slovenia to winning that comp? The same Slovenian team that had Blazic, Cancar and Prepelic, who were main rotational players in this Olympics? They weren't running a drive and kick offense with Luka at the center of it all back then when they had success, so why are you of the opinion where they have to do it now?
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Nobody is shytting on Luka in here, or even trying to get hot takes off. Folks are simply speaking to the point about how Luka's style of play, of dominating the ball, needs some serious adjustments. It's not conducive to winning basketball. It was brought up during the game; it was brought up during the playoffs; it was brought up during the regular season.
This has been a topic of discussion for a while now.
Georgiamuscle
Superstar
Which is strange because Luka sonned Beverley on several occasions getting a switch on him in the offs. You’d think they would implement some of Dallas strategies to get him easy buckets.
I don't have any faith in Kidd to change that either, after all, he's the one who wanted Giannis to be PG and give him the freedom to do what he wanted.This is probably precisely why Carlisle said to hell with this because he's a coach who has always ran an equal opportunity offense prior to Luka and now he's being told he isn't good enough and he needs to bow down and kiss the ring.
I don't have any faith in Kidd to change that either, after all, he's the one who wanted Giannis to be PG and give him the freedom to do what he wanted.
Oh no, me either. If anything they brought in Kidd to have a coach that will allow him to play Luka Ball but they respect enough not to blame him for it.
Carlisle wasn't going for it.
Three of the players on this squad, were three of the main players on their Olympics squad. There ain't no relying on one person to create everything with this team.
ALonelyDad
Veteran
But the Gobert agenda
Okay
You couldn't wait to run in here and put the blame on one player and one player alone. Now you're the bastion of nuanced and reasonable basketball discussion. Okay.I didn't run in here looking to blame anyone. I simply made an observation on what happened during the game; Luka cost them the game, but here's the thing, that only happened because of his role. His need of wanting to be in control of everything is the reason why they lost, and it's something I've been stating for a while that he needs to change.Okay
And miss with me with this bullshyt because nobody has defended him on this board more than I have (aside from Mavs fans). It seems like you have a bias here which you can't separate from being able to analyze his play, objectively.
Georgiamuscle
Superstar
AD, Bron, Steph, Harden, Kyrie who else would be there?
He wast there 2016.